italki - Hello, everyone. I hope you’re all doing well. I’ve a question for native English speakers, which of

Ivan

Hello, everyone. I hope you’re all doing well. I’ve a question for native English speakers, which of the following expressions is most commonly used in contemporary English - “when it rains, it pours” or “it never rains but it pours”? I’d personally use the former in speech because it’s shorter and more concise, but the latter looks really good and I’d definitely use it in writing or in speech if I wanted to sound posh :)

8 нояб. 2020 г., 21:29

Ответы · 28

I would only say “when it rains, it pours!”

8 ноября 2020 г.

I don't think I've ever said either of them. But if I absolutely had to say one, I'd choose 'It never rains but it pours' because I've heard/read it much more than the other. By the way, never use an expression like this in a piece of academic writing!

8 ноября 2020 г.

Another phrase I like is, “the dam has broken” or “the floodgates have opened”. it has the same meaning of things becoming overwhelming or too much happening at the same time.

8 ноября 2020 г.

Good morning, Ivan How are you? The first one "when it rains, it pours" is commonly used.

9 ноября 2020 г.

Hi Ivan My Mum used to say “it never rains, but it pours”, when lots of things were going wrong. “It never rains” is meaning we always pretend everything is fine “But it pours” means when it goes wrong it goes badly wrong It wasn’t a phrase to sound “posh”, but it seems a bit old fashioned now. Hope that helps.

9 ноября 2020 г.

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